Pack clean, ready-to-eat produce

Friday

Aug 29, 2014 at 2:00 PM

It is back to school time, and with that comes planning lunches. Planning lunches includes purchasing lunches at school or packing them.No doubt about it — healthy lunches, whether purchased at school or packed at home, include fruits and vegetables. When lunches are being packed just make sure that you know those nutritious fruits and veggies are clean and ready to eat when it comes lunch time.Historically, we equate washing to cleanliness. We wash clothes, cars, dishes and ourselves.So it is logical that many people believe fruits and vegetables can be made cleaner and safer by washing — but fruits and vegetables should not be washed with either soaps or detergents; they should be rinsed with clean, running water.The reason soaps and detergents should not be used on produce is because soaps and detergents are not approved or labeled by the Food and Drug Administration for use on foods. Residues from the soaps or detergents can be absorbed into the produce.You may wonder what the difference is between soaps and detergents. They are very similar in their chemical properties, but there is a significant difference. Soaps are made of materials found in nature. Detergents are synthetic, or man-made materials, although some of the ingredients may be natural.Detergents became available to Americans during World War II when oils to make soap were scarce.Produce can come wrapped when you purchase it from the store, but it doesn’t always mean it is ready to eat as-is. Michigan State University Extension encourages everyone to read the labels of all your fruits or veggies to make sure it says: ready to eat, washed or triple washed. If it does then you are good to go, but if it doesn’t then wash your hands and rinse the fruits or vegetables under running tap water to remove any lingering dirt or any harmful bacteria that could be present.Scrub firm fruits and vegetables, like apples and cucumbers, with a clean produce brush and rinse them again after scrubbing them. Dry them with a clean cloth towel or paper towel.Having clean produce in those packed lunches is important — and you can have clean produce by rinsing thoroughly, not washing.Jeannie Nichols is a food safety educator for Michigan State University Extension. She can be reached at nicho115@msu.edu or 517-439-9301.